You Had Me at Katrina

TV critics wanted to like Fox's new "K-ville" if only because it's shot entirely on location in New Orleans. But they were put off by what one of the producers called the "over-the-top action sequences" in the pilot episode.

One critic told the exec producers "I looked at this and, frankly, you had me at 'Katrina,'" adding "there's a huge amount of interests in this country in the rebuilding of New Orleans [so] did you really feel that people wouldn't watch if you didn't ratchet up the action beyond what seems to be inherent in the project?"

Another critic put it more succinctly: "Watching the show, I couldn't decide whether you wanted to be a gritty, realistic show like 'NYPD Blue' or a wild and woolly show like 'Starsky & Hutch.' Which one is it?"

"I would throw it back out to all and ask you why are those two mutually exclusive?" exec producer Jonathan Lisco responded.

"They are," the critic said.

"You think they are?" Lisco countered.

"Absolutely," the critic shot back.

"We're not trying to do something that is so... along the lines of 'Nash Bridges' where each episode there's a your-ass-is-mine by our bad guys, a car chase, etc. However, we're not necessarily out to be only messaging in the wake of a big national disaster. We're out to create entertainment -- at the same time we want to be socially relevant to the extent possible."

For 40 minutes, critics and producers kicked this subject back and forth until it was a bloody pulp. Actor Cole Hauser got in the last lick, telling critics, "If we can't do our job as far as the stories are concerned, the backdrop is there."